BloodRayne: Betrayal Paints The Town Red On Steam Today

Everybody’s favorite vampiric vixen, Rayne, has been on something of a hiatus for the past few years. But it looks like the deadly, blade-wielding assassin is ready to step out of the shadows once again, this time slicing and dicing foes in BloodRayne: Betrayal, a 2D action game finally launching today on Steam.

I’ve got to be honest: I never really got into the BloodRayne games back in the era of the PlayStation. Like many-a teenager of the era, I was certainly drawn to the games thanks to the beautifully violent titular character, but I never quite pulled the trigger on actually buying one of the games.

Then, in 2011, I have a review for BloodRayne: Betrayal pop up on my to-do list, serving as my first true foray into the series. I knew exactly two things about the game going in. First, it was made by WayForward, which just so happens to be one of my favorite developers. Second, it had abandoned the free-roaming antics of a 3D world to go 2D, offering up action more akin to an old-school brawler than the series it had spun off from. Both of these facts got me pretty jazzed to take Betrayal for a spin, and I was not disappointed by the final result.

BloodRayne: Betrayal can bet a bit tricky to get used to at first. Rayne only has a couple of different standard attacks, which are further augmented by dash abilities, a little bit of firepower and the ability to either use her enemies to get a life boos or infect them, thus turning them into a shambling, undead bomb.

Once you get the hang of Betrayal’s mechanics, the game absolutely sings, offering up some fun levels, memorable boss fights and some insane platforming that sees the player evolve from a clumsy killer into a murder ballerina of the highest order. In short, it was a pretty rad game on consoles a few years back and, now that it’s arriving on Steam, I expect BloodRayne: Betrayal will earn itself a whole new audience of fans.

For 10 bucks via steam, you can pick up this latest version of the game that has been enhanced by the folks at Abstraction Games, adding in increased precision for movement, re-balanced puzzles and challenges, as well as some additional checkpoints throughout. I’m sure those other additions are lovely, but that last one should help address one of my only gripes with the original version of the game.

“Gameplay is spiced up with environmental puzzles, including blood seals, grinder switches, floodlights and towering pillars of blood,” reads a statement from Majesco Entertainment and Midnight City. “…On her mission, Rayne cleaves through a plethora of grunts, goons and creatures of all shapes and sizes, using her signature arm-blades and a relentless thirst for blood.”

Feel like sating that bloodlust for her? Then grab BloodRayne: Betrayal on Steam starting today.